Reader Mail: Mark Cuban Should Shut Up About Race

Where everybody knows your name: Your oral history of Churchill's Pub ("Bangers & Mosh," Liz Tracy and S. Pajot, May 29) shows exactly why I'm hoping things stay as close to the way they are as possible even though founder Dave Daniels has sold the place. The few friends I've made in my first couple of years in Miami have all been made there. Robert N. Nielsen

Cuban's Bigotry

Jump in a lake: Uncle Luke got it 100 percent right about the NBA's hypocrisy in punishing Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his racism but not Mavericks owner Mark Cuban ("Mark Cuban Politics," Luther Campbell, May 29). Cuban relied on the so-called common knowledge that black people are inherently dangerous, especially the hoodie-wearing hoodlum ones, and America's belief it's just common sense to fear and avoid them — or to shoot them if you get the chance. And if he'd said he wouldn't hire Mexicans because "everyone knows they're lazy" or allow gays to teach his children because "everyone knows they're pedophiles," this crowd would nod along in solemn agreement. Sorry, white people, you don't get to publicly rue the day you "freed" the slaves to roam the streets and then claim you're having a "dialogue" about race. It's a monologue to be sure. Mark Cuban is the worst kind of bigot: the kind who doesn't realize his worldview was constructed by slave owners and is reinforced by the societal power that comes with being a rich white man whose station is bolstered by those who look like him. He says he doesn't want to be a hypocrite by "throwing stones" at Sterling. By all means, please keep your stones in your pocket and join Sterling when he goes and jumps in the lake. R. Barrett Snyder

Let the man speak: Cuban never said anything offensive, in my view. He spoke for many in admitting his biases and addressed the hypocrisy issue as well. Now, if the media wanna run with his line about avoiding a "black kid in a hoodie" on the street without context, that's their choice. Phil Ramirez

Time for Cuban to shut up: I'm glad Uncle Luke shared his opinion on this controversy. I always wondered why, out of the gate, Mark Cuban was talking about a slippery slope in Donald Sterling's case when there was no slippery-slope argument to be made. Had Sterling's girlfriend said she had heard him say these racist things in private with no recording to back her up and it was all hearsay, I might have sided with Cuban. However, when it was pretty much never disputed by Sterling himself, why talk about a slippery slope for punishing him? Our country has freedom of speech, but his statements are also clearly racist. As a Mavs fan, I think he has cost the team games with NBA refs by constantly ragging on performance. All the teams in the NBA get bad treatment from time to time, but he wanted to make it only about the Mavs (and, yes, we did get screwed in '06, but it happens to all NBA teams at one time or another — refs aren't perfect either). Aside from Sterling and Jerry Buss, very rarely does anyone know the owner of any NBA team outside their respective city. But everyone knows Cuban, not because his team won the 2011 title and beat the Heat, but because of all his antics, which were generally classless and just plain dumb — like running on the court or getting in arguments with players. Sometimes it would be nice if he would just shut up and get good players for the Mavs and not say anything. Clearly we know that's not going to happen. Carl the Truth Williams

That's common sense: What Cuban basically said is that he is scared of scary-looking people. Really controversial statement, huh? Keith Harvey

Work for unity: Uncle Luke is missing the point. I think Cuban was trying to show us that we can all learn something about tolerance and that we all make judgments based on stereotypes. If I see things that seem foreign or different to me, I take notice. We all know people who are a bit bigoted or racist. The old black man who hates white people. The guy who still says everything is "gay." I don't hate these people. I pity them because these ideas have come from somewhere in their past experiences or lack of experience. Uncle Luke's talents and exposure could be better used by showing us all that even though we may be different and even afraid of one another at times, we are all people who, given the opportunity, could bring ourselves together rather than pull ourselves apart. If we continue dividing ourselves from one another, how can we expect to ever come together? Cuban was trying to show us that we all have it in us to hate or fear or see things differently but that we also have it in us to tolerate and educate ourselves about those in our global community. I hope that in the future, Uncle Luke uses his pulpit to help bring us together rather than tear down those who are trying to make an honest effort even if it might not come out perfectly. Just a guy

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